these last 4 shots are (i think) important. the above two shot how changing the venting really clears the door port. you kinda want this weird positive pressure thing. when there's too much flame, open the venting. we have just stoked the fire in a major way, and there's always an exciting display.

below left shows the display in full flight. the exhaust is wide open. then pik on the right shows the exhaust locked nearly closed. the fire has settled down and the g hole is HEAPS hotter. it eventually held 1050ish for 3 hrs. recon i coulda got 1150 within another 2 hrs, then held that.

overall i felt it was much more controlled. i didn't spend nearly as much time fecking with the furnace, it wasn't (overly) chewing wood, and, something else.i used about a third of the wood i did last time.(go me and massive ljs ;)

lj is not reliable like it used to be, my friend. like back in the good old days. lots of people no longer see my posts on their friends page, so i now assume i don't see lots of stuff either - and i don't. about every two weeks i just go individually into people's journals and catch up on everything that doesn't show up. *shrug* - in case you think, like me, that sometimes people hate you ;)